WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Colts reign in the rain

Tony Dungy, beaming and sporting an NFL champions cap, waded through the mob on the soggy field until he found his quarterback, Peyton Manning.

And there they stood in the rain, the winning Super Bowl coach and the MVP, finally savoring a moment that was a long time coming.

A wet and wild night of Super Bowl firsts brought Dungy, Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to the top of the NFL with a 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.

Barry Wilner, Associated Press

Manning overcomes curse

He did it on a night when the rain fell, the wind swirled and even Prince got dripping wet. He did it when everyone around him seemed to have trouble holding onto the ball and his team fell into a familiar early hole.

It never was going to be easy for Peyton Manning. Somehow, it never is.

Then again, breaking curses is never easy. But it’s the only way to vanquish them for good.

You can file this one away alongside the curse of the Bambino. Because a Manning finally won a big one.

Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press

No complaints from Colts

Peyton Manning’s first Super Bowl was rain-soaked and inelegant. But no one on the Indianapolis Colts’ soggy sideline at Dolphin Stadium was about to complain Sunday night. Manning cemented his place among the sport’s greatest quarterbacks as the Colts used a spread-the-wealth approach on offense and benefited from the fourth-quarter gaffes of Rex Grossman to beat the Chicago Bears, 29-17, in Super Bowl XLI.

Mark Maske, Washington Post

Colts’ way worked

Peyton Manning showed he could win without being flashy. Tony Dungy showed a coach could rally his team through tough times without screaming and yelling. And the Indianapolis Colts, the most dominant NFL team of the decade, showed they could win the big one.

Arthur Staple, Newsday

Mismatch in the end

It was a great game for 14 seconds. Devin Hester grabbed the opening kickoff at the 8, cut right, cut to the middle, cut right, cut right and consider him gone. By the time the Indianapolis Colts caught him, he was in their end zone.

It was a good game into the second quarter. Chicago went so far as to score a second touchdown to take a 14-6 lead.

But there was always inevitability about this game. The difference in talent between Indianapolis and Chicago and the conferences they represent is too vast to be undone by a pair of touchdowns.

The Bears spent the remainder of the evening doing two things. The first was failing to move forward. The second was allowing the Colts all the yards they needed except when they got close to the end zone.

The Colts would kick a field goal and the Bears would counter with a punt. The Colts would kick a field goal and the Bears would counter with a punt. The Colts would kick a field goal and the Bears, angry now, would counter with a first down and a punt.

The game became the mismatch almost everybody predicted, and the Colts won Super Bowl XLI, 29-17.

Tom Sorenson, Charlotte Observer

Grossman erratic as expected

Poor Peyton Manning. He finally gets to a Super Bowl after so many disappointments, only to have the opposing quarterback steal the show.

Manning won the game, as well as the MVP award. He did his whole act, waving his arms and pointing his finger and scurrying back and forth behind his linemen shouting instructions. That’s all true. But no one will remember much about Manning’s performance in Sunday night’s rainy NFL championship game.

They will never forget Rex Grossman’s, however. He wrote his name into Super Bowl history in indelible stink.

INT Rex.

Phil Sheridan, Phila. Inquirer

Miserable game for Bears

In the end, they were a haggard, beaten bunch.

The Bears were not stripped of their pride nor were they the authors of a performance that whitewashed all that had led to this moment in Florida – nothing as severe as that.

But the defense, so long thought of as a snarling, impenetrable menace, was spent. And the quarterback, given the biggest stage possible to cram validation down the throats of his critics, made the biggest mistake of the game.

They once more had been afforded the skepticism of nearly every outside eye, only this time they were unable to convert the naysayers. There are no doubts now about the Bears, and for them that is the misery of it all.

The Colts won Super Bowl XLI, raising the Lombardi Trophy under a curtain of South Florida rain.

Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune